Jan. 24, 2010

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HEAD COACH Pat Summitt
Opening Statement
"I thought in the first half we really struggled to get anything positive going. Obviously, in the second half I thought our team came out of the locker room very focused. Our post game stepped up, so we had good balance from the outside-inside. Looking at our stats, Glory Johnson came in and did a good job after the break. She wasn't playing well early. Kelley (Cain) wasn't playing that well and got in foul trouble. We have grown accustomed to that. When she was on the floor she was 4-for-4 from field goals and 3-for-3 from the free throw line. That's big for her, and I just wish she would have been able to stay in the game a little longer and get some touches. We managed to play through it without her, and that's always an indication that we got a little bit better balance. When Glory did come back in I was really pleased with her as well. I thought Alicia Manning's intensity, defense and toughness on the boards - she really made a difference when she was on the court. Angie (Bjorklund), it's good to see her come back and get really focused and play well. We rely on her a lot, and certainly when she is on the floor, offensively, we are looking for her constantly. (Shekinna) Stricklen did not shoot the ball well, but she did a lot of other good things. I thought she defended and got on the boards as well."

On her thoughts on Seimone Augustus and her jersey retirement at LSU ...
"Yes, I have a lot (of thoughts), and some are not real fond memories. We recruited Seimone, and she came up to campus and visited with her parents. I knew it was a long shot, but I was willing to try. I watched her play and played against her many times and saw her elevate her game. She is obviously the all-time great to play here, in my opinion. I was proud to see that recognition. It is so well deserved."

On the play of her team defensively once LSU took the lead in the second half ...
"I thought our coverage out of the zone was really good. We extended it. We were aggressive. We got after it. Obviously, we wanted to make sure that we were not just giving them good open looks or a lot of chances to get in the paint. That was as well as I think we played out of the zone all year, those last nine minutes."

On how the team was able to pull away ...
"I think we changed tempo. In the first half we were probably just a little out of sync and not nearly as effective, but our tempo was better and that was probably the biggest thing."